1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hand-operated inflator, and in particular to an inflator having dual cylinder design, so that an object can be inflated at a faster rate using less effort.
2. The Related Art
Generally, an air pump or hand-operated inflator is used to inflate tires, balloons, inflatable toys or other inflatable objects. Commonly seen hand-operated inflators have one air cylinder. The refilling of an inflatable object may take a long time and is not an easy task for ordinary users.
A recent design of the inflator employs two air cylinders, which is comprised of a base block and two cylinders coupled on two sides of the base block. The dual-cylinder inflator is attached with a discharge tube that has a mouthpiece on the other end for fitting on to the air nozzle of an inflatable object.
The dual-cylinder design is intended to expedite the refilling operation. The inflator uses the two pistons in the two air cylinders to compress the internal air at the same time, so that twice the amount of compressed air is generated in one stroke, as with the conventional one-cylinder inflator. The object can thus be fully inflated much faster than using the one-cylinder inflator.
However, the dual-cylinder inflator which boosts faster refilling might not be that attractive for ordinary users, as the dual-cylinder inflator is usually larger and weighs more than the one-cylinder inflator.
The air cylinders and the base block have to be assembled by thread mounting the air cylinders onto the base block. When the refilling is done, the dual-cylinder inflator is usually taken apart to save storage space. The assembling and disassembling of the dual-cylinder inflator may be quite troublesome, and, even when disassembled, all parts have to be kept in good order in order to use them again for the next time.
To overcome the above-mentioned problems, the present invention intends to provide an improved dual-cylinder inflator that is easy to use and small enough to be stored away conveniently.